#justice for sokka and katara

[witchering10123]

nah but can you imagine if sokka had joined katara and zuko in southern raiders, yon rha would have shit his pants seeing an identical copy of the woman he killed

[julsera]

FLAMING FIRE FLAKES CHALLENGE.

I rewatched the show, it's still so so good ♡

[ultfreakme]

I just want to know what is this obsession with some ATLA fans on making Katara "The Mom"? She's 14. We start with Aang saying she is just a kid so what on Earth is this weird take?

[fictionrecipe]

Re-reading, rewatching, and reliving my childhood, I just realised that it's so strange watching fictional characters, once your age, become adults with agency, like you now. They become free of adolescence but also face the reality of being an adult. They are not confined to a single period or time in their life, but, they stop ageing once the story ends. They are childhood heroes who might do good for society, but they're also adults with trauma, faults and issues that affect those around them. They're idols who you looked at with starry eyes as a child, only to realise, with a small, weary smile, that what you idolised them for is how they faced adversity they never wanted, and chose to be different because of it. They don't have the luxury of just "being a kid" and not seeing the world the same way another adult might, but they have the power to change what they experienced as a kid.

They are the legacies you look back on when you want to remember a time in your life, but they're also the bittersweet memories of a time that passed and will continue to pass. You will have white waterfalls cascading around your face, with a tired smile but they'll still look strong, proud and relatively young, eyes swelling with life. There's something beautiful, haunting, sad, strange and nostalgic about it all.

[fenrysmoonbeamswife]

Repost because someone pointed out the first fanart was tagged wrong and it will eat me up if I don't fix it lmao, anyways justice for my girl

[starrishly]

watching atla for the first time (im at book 1) and i absolutely love the character's they're all amazingly written imo 🫶

[singswan-springswan]

zutara aladdin au you know I'm right

[fandom]

Ships

Love is in the air (in hell).

Billford Bill Cipher & Stanford Pines, Gravity Falls

Farcille Falin Touden & Marcille Donato, Dungeon Meshi

Poolverine Wade Wilson & Logan Howlett, the Marvel universe

Ineffable Husbands -3 Aziraphale & Crowley, Good Omens

Destiel -2 Dean Winchester & Castiel, Supernatural

Radioapple Lucifer Morningstar & Alastor, Hazbin Hotel

Buddie +3 Evan Buckley & Edmundo Diaz, 9-1-1

Phan Daniel Howell & Phil Lester, YouTubers

Polin Penelope Featherington & Colin Bridgerton, Bridgerton

Satosugu +16 Gojo Satoru & Geto Suguru, Jujutsu Kaisen

Percabeth +76 Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase, the Percy Jackson universe

Bucktommy Evan Buckley & Tommy Kinard, 9-1-1

Hannigram -4 Hannibal Lecter & Will Graham, Hannibal

Labru Laios Touden & Kabru, Dungeon Meshi

Zosan +18 Roronoa Zoro & Vinsmoke Sanji, One Piece

Narilamb Narinder & the Lamb, Cult of the Lamb

Huskerdust Husk & Angel Dust, Hazbin Hotel

Steddie -16 Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson, Stranger Things

Sonadow +27 Sonic & Shadow, Sonic the Hedgehog

Ghostsoap -6 Simon “Ghost” Riley & John “Soap” MacTavish, the Call of Duty franchise

Jegulus -3 James Potter & Regulus Black, the Harry Potter universe

Fiddauthor Fiddleford McGucket & Stanford Pines, Gravity Falls

Byler -19 Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Stranger Things

Wolfstar -8 Remus Lupin & Sirius Black, the Harry Potter universe

Soukoku -3 Nakahara Chuuya & Dazai Osamu, Bungou Stray Dogs

Bakudeku -6 Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Boku no Hero Academia

Loustat +5 Louis de Pointe du Lac & Lestat de Lioncourt, Interview with the Vampire

Hualian +30 Hua Cheng & Xie Lian, Tian Guan Ci Fu

Chaggie Charlie Morningstar & Vaggie, Hazbin Hotel

Lestappen +37 Charles Leclerc & Max Verstappen, Formula 1 drivers

Hilson James Wilson & Gregory House, House

Narumitsu +13 Phoenix Wright & Miles Edgeworth, Ace Attorney

Spirk +15 Spock & James T. Kirk, Star Trek

Stolitz Stolas & Blitzo, Helluva Boss

Lokius +43 Loki Laufeyson & Mobius M. Mobius, Loki

Merthur -19 Merlin & Arthur Pendragon, Merlin

Payneland Edwin Payne & Charles Rowland, Dead Boy Detectives

Chilshi Chilchuck Tims & Senshi, Dungeon Meshi

Rhaenicent +61 Rhaenyra Targaryen & Alicent Hightower, House of the Dragon

Astarion x Tav +48 Astarion & Tav, Baldur's Gate 3

Armandaniel Armand & Daniel Molloy, Interview with the Vampire

Griddlehark -2 Gideon Nav & Harrowhark Nonagesimus, The Locked Tomb series

Superbat +12 Superman & Batman, the DC universe

Zolu Roronoa Zoro & Monkey D. Luffy, One Piece

Zelink -33 Zelda & Link, The Legend of Zelda

Jonmartin +5 Jonathan Sims & Martin Blackwood, The Magnus Archives

Vashwood -36 Vash the Stampede & Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Trigun

Zukka +20 Zuko & Sokka, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Staticradio Alastor & Vox, Hazbin Hotel

Ratiorine Dr. Ratio & Aventurine, Honkai: Star Rail

Blackbonnet -36 Edward "Blackbeard" Teach & Stede Bonnet, Our Flag Means Death

Hanamusa -9 Jessie & Delia Ketchum, the Pokémon franchise

Wangxian -28 Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian, Mo Dao Zu Shi

Pearlina Pearl Houzuki & Marina Ida, Splatoon

Firstprince -32 Alex Claremont-Diaz & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Red, White & Royal Blue

Shuake Kurusu Akira & Goro Akechi, Persona 5

Drarry +6 Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, the Harry Potter universe

Landoscar Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri, Formula 1 drivers

Bingqiu Luo Binghe & Shen Qingqiu, The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System

Shadowpeach +2 Sun Wukong & the Six-Eared Macaque, Lego Monkie Kid

Zutara Zuko & Katara, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Itafushi Itadori Yuji & Fushiguro Megumi, Jujustu Kaisen

Loumand Louis de Pointe du Lac & Armand, Interview with the Vampire

Timkon +25 Tim Drake & Conner Kent, Young Justice

Klance +18 Keith & Lance, Voltron: Legendary Defender

Nuzi N & Uzi Doorman, Murder Drones

Durgetash The Dark Urge & Enver Gortash, Baldur's Gate 3

Cherik Charles Xavier & Erik Lehnsherr, the Marvel universe

Kathony Kate Sharma & Anthony Bridgerton, Bridgerton

Staticmoth Vox & Valentino, Hazbin Hotel

Shin Soukoku Akutagawa Ryunnosuke & Nakajima Atsushi, Bungou Stray Dogs

Huntlow -65 Hunter & Willow Park, The Owl House

Haikaveh Kaveh & Alhaitham, Genshin Impact

Chainshipping Lawrence Gordon & Adam Stanheight, Saw

ButtonBlossom Ragatha & Pomni, The Amazing Digital Circus

Agathario Agatha Harkness & Rio Vidal, the Marvel universe

Broppy Branch & Poppy, the Trolls franchise

Lumity -65 Luz Noceda & Amity Blight, The Owl House

Radiorose Alastor & Rosie, Hazbin Hotel

Imodna -53 Imogen Temult & Laudna, Critical Role

Rosekiller Barty Crouch Jr. & Evan Rosier, the Harry Potter universe

Everlark Katniss Everdeen & Peeta Mellark, The Hunger Games

Wenclair -78 Wednesday Addams & Enid Sinclair, Wednesday

Kataang Katara & Aang, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Caitvi -5 Caitlyn Kiramman & Vi, Arcane

Adrienette -50 Adrien Agreste & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Davekat +3 Dave Strider & Karkat Vantas, Homestuck

Adamsapple Adam & Lucifer Morningstar, Hazbin Hotel

Twiyor -58 Loid Forger & Yor Forger, SPY x FAMILY

Shuggy Shanks & Buggy, One Piece

Scollace Scott Pilgrim & Wallace Wells, the Scott Pilgrim franchise

Madohomu Kaname Madoka & Homura Akemi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Solangelo -23 Will Solace & Nico di Angelo, the Percy Jackson universe

Kimharry Kim Kitsuragi & Harry Du Bois, Disco Elysium

Klapollo -2 Apollo Justice & Klavier Gavin, Ace Attorney

Maxley Max Goof & Bradley Uppercrust III, An Extremely Goofy Movie

Megop Megatron & Optimus Prime, Transformers

Wilmon -34 Prince Wilhelm & Simon Eriksson, Young Royals

Johnshi Johnny Cage & Kenshi Takahashi, Mortal Kombat

Korrasami -5 Korra & Asami Sato, The Legend of Korra

The number in italics indicates how many spots a ship moved up or down from the previous year. Bolded ships weren’t on the list last year.

Love love? Create a Community for your OTP today, and enjoy yelling about it with others in the comfort of your own dedicated online yelling space.

[gaybd1]

“hey why didn’t Sokka seem to care nearly as much as Katara about bringing his mom’s killer to justice?”

Hey that’s a great question but What You Need to Understand About Sokka is that this boy’s feelings about his family and childhood are SO repressed in order to allow him to function

I know I have other posts about this somewhere but like

This guy has always been the Big Brother. When his mom died and especially when his dad left he was Suddenly In Charge of his sister and the his VILLAGE and ALL the people in it.

He didn’t have TIME to have FEELINGS about these things. He’s a kid and the feelings are just so big they would just shut him down. He hasn’t even had the luxury of time to sit down and Feel and Mourn

He’s always moving from thing to thing right up to the end of the war until he’s suddenly basically become responsible for the fate of the world. (alongside Aang ofc ofc) He’s the plan guy, he was always responsible for everyone, and even if it’s not always necessarily true he definitely still feels that way all the way through the war.

So all of these personal things like thoughts of home and family…. They’re buried WAY deep because he’s trying to save the world right now. So it’s like

“Do you think we should stop the guy who killed mom?”

“Yeah sure but I don’t have time for selfish indulgences right now, I’ll think about that later”

[sokkalore]

stop calling katara the mom friend .. she is a passionate justice motivated rebel who acts first and thinks later OFTEN (starting a revolution on a prison ship, fighting pakku, blowing up the fire nation factory, i could go on)

start calling sokka, the one with an 8 foot long color-coded schedule, the mom friend

[ecoterrorist-katara]

What do you think about the fact that Sokka became chief of the SWT in canon? Did Katara want the position? If she did, what did she think about Sokka getting it instead of her? And if she didn’t want the position, why?

hello!!! Great question. Oh man I am Not happy about Sokka becoming chief of the SWT…I think he should’ve gone to Ba Sing Se University and gotten an engineering degree and spent his life making cool inventions…

I do think Sokka is a leader, but there are many flavours of leadership and he strikes me more as a very competent bureaucrat more than somebody who makes decisions on the world stage. I think he actually could’ve made a terrific technocratic advisor to someone like Katara, who is not quite as detail-oriented when it comes to solving problems. Like if the Water Tribes ever had, idk, a supply chain or procurement problem, Sokka would be all over that. If we’re talking about who displays more traditional qualities of leadership (willingness to take initiative, comfort with public speaking, tact and diplomacy, willingness to hear out different perspectives, ability to inspire others), Katara has a natural inclination. They could’ve been cool co-rulers too, actually.

As for whether Katara wanted to be Chief: so! Great question! I think if anyone had ever asked Katara “hey do you want to be the Chief of the Southern Water Tribes,” she would’ve been shocked, then said YES. Unequivocally.

But: we don’t see adult women in any positions of power in ATLA, and I think that’s something that Katara subconsciously internalized. As much as she’s a feminist icon who’d fight Pakku, I’m not sure she ever thought about women in positions of political power. Remember that the reason Katara was so set on learning combat waterbending was because the South did have female waterbending fighters, so she knew it was a possibility, but she’s never heard even a hint of the idea that a woman could be a ruler. Even Kiyoshi Island, the girlboss utopia, is run by a man. The only time we see a woman potentially becoming a ruler of anything is when Azula was briefly made Fire Lord, and even then it was pretty clear that she was supposed to be a puppet. In the North, Yue was never going to be Chief and everyone seemed to have accepted that, and Katara doesn’t find it unfair. This sounds so stupid, but I think this is why it’s important to have role models, you know? Katara would 1000% want to be Chief if anyone ever told her that it was an option.

What I do find super weird is how Katara also never seemed interested in a seat on the United Republic Council, even though working with people and pursuing justice and peace is very much Katara’s thing, and we do know that the URC had at least one Councilwoman. I don’t have a Watsonian explanation for Katara’s comparative political irrelevance that isn’t extremely sad (i.e. she decided she’d rather spend energy on restoring Air Temple Island and raising her children instead of pursuing a career in politics even though Toph also did a whole Thing while being a single mom).

I think if the writers of the comics and TLOK had gotten their heads out of the “girl power = girls fight good” mentality, they would have realized that Katara would be an amazing world leader. But they didn’t (and to be fair they seemed to have also forgotten that Katara fights at all), and we must live with the dumpster fire that is Katara’s canon arc.

[sokkastyles]

Occasionally I see zutara antis saying that Sokka should be mad at Zuko for letting his sister go after Yon Rah / using that information to help her find him, and like, the reason why Sokka doesn't is because

1) Sokka himself begged Zuko to tell him how to go after his father even when Zuko tried to protect him from that information, and when it was clear Sokka would not be kept from danger, Zuko went with him to keep him safe. I think he would also understand Zuko doing the same thing with his sister, considering it happened in back to back episodes.

2) Sokka knows that he can't keep his sister from doing what her big heart demands, and he respects her enough not to try and stop her, and also would respect her enough after the fact not to assume she was somehow damaged and blame Zuko for it, as if Katara didn't walk away from that confrontation all on her own.

3) What a way to sidestep a female character's agency by making it about what her BROTHER should think about her actions and how he should blame that on the nearest man instead of acknowledging Katara as her own person.

Especially since, again, Sokka did almost the same thing in his field trip with Zuko. Do you think Zuko should have kept information about Sokka's father for his own safety? No? Why do you think that about Katara knowing about her mother's murder? This isn't even about her going after the guy, because that was Katara's choice. It's about her right to the information and her right to decide what to do with it and how that person should face justice.

[the-badger-mole]

I get the frustration around shipping within this fandom. No, really I do. It does take up a lot of the bandwidth in the conversations around the show. I don't blame the fans, though. This is really Bryke's fault. They may not have started the ships wars, but they definitely threw napalm on the bonfire. Add that and the fact that when you really look at it, the friendships- the relationships that were supposed to be the backbone of the series- don't really add up to much. The biggest mistake was trying to make Aang the heart of the group and have so much of the "friendships" hinge on him. The kid has zero empathy and nil desire to actually get to know his friends.

His closest bonds are supposedly Katara and Zuko. I've talked at length about how little focus Katara gets in their relationship, platonic or romantic. His interest in her is very shallow, and mostly focused on the fact that she's pretty and sweet. Any moment of real, in depth friendship between them is Katara supporting him and caring for his feelings, but the moment she needed him to give her the same energy, he compared the death of her mother to his losing Appa for a few days, and compared her desire for targeted justice to Jet trying to do a deep cleanse of an entire community which included children (and possibly other EK citizens). Then the episode ended with his continued misunderstanding of Katara with no attempt at getting to know her better.

His other major bond is supposed to be with Zuko, but I have many of the same criticisms (minus his hyper focus on how pretty Zuko is). Honestly, I don't think Zuko and Aang actually had that strong of a friendship. We know they were "best friends" by the end because the narrative says so, but aside from that moment after Pouhai, and their field trip to see Ran and Shaw, they don't have a ton to do with each other. Even their training together is glossed over. Zuko is more narratively tied to Katara, and he has a stronger "bros" vibe with Sokka, and even Jet, for a quick moment.

If I'm keeping it a whole buck, Aang isn't really a great friend to anyone in the Gaang. The strong friendship beats have more to do with how they are friends to him than the other way around. He doesn't offer much by the way of empathy, or even a desire to know the struggles of his friends. I know that's mostly a failing on the part of the writing, but I do like exploring that as a character trait of Aang. His negative traits are a lot more interesting to explore than his positive ones.

I love the stories that explore the friendships within the Gaang. I love writing stories that do those friendships. In particular, I think the potential Katara, Toph and Suki, and Sokka and Zuko friendships had so much potential. And I'm right. They do. But let's be real here. The major points of interest within the show are the ships. And i think it was partially by design. Who else remembers how hard the show's promo material pushed the Zuko/Katara/Aang triangle?

[blluespirit]

I was thinking about the southern raiders again and i think one of the reasons i love it so much, is that despite not being in the group for very long, zuko immediately understands what katara needs to do more than anyone else in the group and takes it upon himself to give it to her - peace and to earn her forgiveness.

it's not really about revenge, its about confronting her trauma head on. ripping the monster from under the bed so it can no longer haunt her.

i like that zuko never puts an idea for what she has to do. it's actually aang who brings up revenge. zuko never says that's what she must do, and when she snaps back at Aang that hell, maybe revenge is what she needs, zuko doesn't shut her down either. its absolutely up to her.

the argument between aang, katara, zuko and sokka is telling - aang, while well meaning, can't understand katara's perspective. aang's pain is vast and deep and he has processed/is processing that in his own way, but what works for him, will not work for everyone. zuko sees katara's anger and it resonates with him - that is something he can understand.

I just love that zuko offers to find the man, and then goes all out defending katara's need to confront him. she needs this.

Here's the argument:

KATARA: We're going to find the man who took my mother from me. ZUKO: Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it and I know how to find him. AANG: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish? KATARA: [shakes her head in dismay] Ugh, I knew you wouldn't understand. [begins to walk away] AANG: Wait! Stop! I do understand. You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people? ZUKO: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice.' AANG: I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge. KATARA: [angrily] Fine, maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves! AANG: Katara, you sound like Jet. KATARA: It's not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he's a monster. SOKKA: Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right. KATARA: Then you didn't love her the way I did! SOKKA: [hurt] Katara! AANG: The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself. ZUKO: That's cute, but this isn't air temple preschool. It's the real world. KATARA: Now that I know he's out there ... now that I know we can find him, I feel like I have no choice. AANG: Katara, you do have a choice: forgiveness. ZUKO: That's the same as doing nothing! AANG: No, it's not. It's easy to do nothing, but it's hard to forgive. KATARA: It's not just hard, it's impossible.

but I also love that because none of this happens without zuko's knowledge.

zuko is just the means to an end, and he's okay with that. What katara ultimately decides to do is up to her;

but zuko is going make damn sure he's there to make sure she's able to make that decision:

they make it to the southern raiders and zuko charges in, deflects the commanders fire and when he asks them who they are, zuko responds perfectly. he's angry for her. he never tries to make it about himself and his actions confronting the Southern Raiders Commander and Yon Rah reflect this:

COMMANDER: Who are you? ZUKO: You don't remember her? You will soon, trust me. [katara starts bloodbending him. zuko looks shocked for a moment, before quickly returning his attention back to the commander] ZUKO: Think back. Think back to your last raid on the Southern Water Tribe. COMMANDER: I don't know what you're talking about. Please, I don't know! ZUKO: [bending down closer to the commander] Don't lie! You look her in the eye and you tell me you don't remember what you did. [katara realises he's not the man, says as much and begins to walk away. zuko realises he still has a role to play to help katara] ZUKO: [grabs the weak commander and pins him to the wall] If you're not the man we're looking for, who is? COMMANDER: You must be looking for Yon Rha. He retired four years ago.

He does it again when they confront Yon Rah:

[Yon Rha is walking. he stops and turns around once more] Nobody sneaks up on me without getting burned! [drops basket of vegetables and firebends at a nearby bush] sensing no one, he picks up the fallen vegetables and continues on his way. He unknowingly steps on a thin wire, causing him to fall into the mud. He tries to get up only to see a fire blast coming his way which he quickly avoids. Zuko appears before him. ZUKO: We weren't behind the bush. [zuko takes a step forward to threaten him] And I wouldn't try firebending again!

After this, zuko steps back and lets katara handle it in the way she sees fit.

even its inferred that zuko thought it was violence that katara needed by what he says to aang at the end of the episode;

ZUKO: You were right about what Katara needed. Violence wasn't the answer.

the point is he never says it to her and he keeps that largely to himself and when she decides to spare his life, while visibly shocked and hangs back a moment to glare at yon rah, he respects katara's decision and sees that's what she needed:

basically what im saying is that whether you ship them or see them as friends, their dynamic is immediately compelling, interesting and respectful.

[justzutara]

✨Another Southern Raiders Analysis✨

I’ve been rewatching ATLA so here’s my take on The Southern Raiders. I’ll mostly be speaking to common criticisms I hear about the episode.

Let’s start with Katara. The main critique I see of her in this episode is the way she talks to Sokka. Up until now on the few occasions when Sokka and Katara have fought, it could be boiled down to surface level conflicts, even when there were deeper underpinnings. For example, take the first scene of the series where Katara says “ever since mom died I’ve been doing all the work while you’ve been off playing soldier.” Their mother’s death and Sokka’s sexism are established, but the central thesis of this fight is that Sokka doesn’t help out with chores. While I agree that her “you didn’t love her like I did” line in TSR is very harsh, that’s the intent. By season 3 Katara’s sadness about her mother’s death has taken a backseat to her anger (more on this later). When she’s presented with the opportunity to confront the man who killed her mother (and potentially resolve that anger) and Sokka tells her he doesn’t think she should, she understandably (imo) snaps; how could her brother who has supported her for this entire journey, even helped her orchestrate a prison break and destroy a Fire Nation factory, suddenly shut her down when she has the chance to get justice for their mom? Additionally, Katara overheard Sokka saying in The Runaway that he can’t remember his mother’s face and can only see Katara when he tries to picture her, so I would argue that there’s a grain of truth to Katara’s assertion (or at least that Katara has good reason to believe so).

To Sokka’s credit, I believe he likely was just as afraid of losing his sister as he was of her losing herself. However, he did not convey this clearly, instead choosing to echo Aang immediately without sincerely trying to hear Katara out. I wish the writers had at least given Sokka a line or two before she and Zuko left, but coming off of The Boiling Rock where Sokka resolved his core parental trauma arc by freeing his dad and this episode being positioned right before the finale, I also understand why the focus needed to pivot more towards Aang.

Now I see a lot of people say that Aang is patronizing of Katara in this episode and I agree to an extent. His attempts to convince Katara to forgive her mother’s killer feel somewhat disingenuous, and I’ll get to why momentarily. The other main Katara criticism I see is how she reacts to Aang, telling him he doesn’t understand when he asks what she thinks going on this mission will accomplish. Taken at face value, this is often interpreted as “you don’t understand what it’s like to lose someone you care about.” That is categorically wrong as Aang goes on to illustrate by talking about the sandbenders stealing Appa and the Fire Nation wiping out the Air Nomads. I’m sure Katara hasn’t forgotten about these events so I interpret her line more as “you don’t understand why I need to do this,” which I don’t think is entirely false. While Aang struggles with earthly attachments as we see in The Guru, he tries to adhere to the principles of his monastic upbringing throughout the show. He’s not perfect at this—after all, he’s 12. But since these teachings are his truth, it can be difficult for him to accept the gray areas that other people live in, particularly the darker shades. He imparts the rhetoric of forgiveness unto Katara because that’s what he believes is right, but he isn’t equipped to understand why it’s not helpful for her. However, I can also appreciate that Aang acknowledges that Katara needs to take this journey in the scene where Katara and Zuko are getting ready to take Appa. I also think he’s right that Katara needs forgiveness to heal, he’s just wrong about where she needs to give it.

This brings us to Zuko. I see a lot of criticisms of him in this episode so let’s get into them. First up is that he’s pushing Katara to be the worst version of herself. I wholeheartedly disagree with this. From the beginning of their journey he is the most understanding about what Katara needs and why. He tells Aang that this is about getting closure and justice. While justice has a nebulous meaning here, closure is 100% the primary purpose of this mission. The only time Zuko expresses anything other than complete support is when they find the leader of the raiders and Katara insists that’s not who killed her mother. Zuko appears frustrated here, but I would argue that he’s confused and it sounds angry because that’s just how he talks lol. I think he can tell from Katara’s change in demeanor that she’s on the verge of giving up, walking away more heartbroken than before. This isn’t the closure she needs and by god, he’s going to make sure she gets it. As soon as he interrogates the captain and he gives them the information on Yon Rha, the fight comes back into Katara’s eyes—she wants to keep going. When they finally find Yon Rha, Zuko keeps his mouth shut. He doesn’t encourage, push, or force Katara to do anything; he just watches her do what she needs to do and leaves when she’s ready.

The next big Zuko criticism I see is that he’s just taking Katara on this mission to endear himself to her. I do believe that’s part of the reason, but here’s my question: why is that bad? Why shouldn’t he want this person that he clearly has a lot of respect for to like him? This ties into the other criticism I’ve seen: that he doesn’t understand why Katara is mad at him in the first place. Like he says during their fight after they escape from Azula, “this isn’t fair. Everyone else seems to trust me now. What is it with you?” From this, I get the sense that he underestimated the impact that their time together in Ba Sing Se had on her. Honestly, I’m not sure Katara consciously realized it herself. This is what I was referring to earlier when I said that her sadness about her mother has taken a backseat to her anger. The connection that she and Zuko had in the crystal catacombs may have been brief, but it was strong enough that she offered to try and heal him with the water from the spirit’s spring. It was strong enough that Zuko let her touch his scar. When Zuko betrayed that connection, which started by bonding over their lost mothers, Katara’s mother wound opened wider and anger she’d never been able to deal with began to spill out.

In the season 3 premiere, we get a glimpse of how Katara has changed when she lashes out at her dad, whom she had been eager to see for two seasons. She generally demonstrates more anger throughout the season even before Zuko joins such as in The Painted Lady when she yells at Sokka multiple times for trying to get her to leave the river town. Compare this to Imprisoned in season 1 where she is firm in her resolve to free Haru, but she convinces Sokka and Aang that it’s the right thing to do and gets them to help instead of just taking matters into her own hands. Katara’s core struggle in season 3 is misplaced anger—at her dad, her brother, and finally Zuko. Her anger at him over his betrayal at Ba Sing Se is completely justified! Her anger at him about her mother’s murder, not so much. Having him around though keeps her anger simmering just below the surface because of the bond they shared that he destroyed. Zuko knows he did wrong by her—by everyone in the gaang. But as I said before, I don’t think he knew just how much that connection meant to Katara until she told him (“I was the first person to trust you, and you betrayed me”), which is why he didn’t initially understand why she was still so cold to him after all the good he’d done since joining them. In this episode, he realizes that it’s not enough just to do good. He needs to do something good for Katara because he severely fucked up with her before. And what do you do when you fuck up with someone you care about (“I do care what she thinks of me”)? You try to make it right. In Zuko’s case, he performs a grand gesture to try and get Katara something she clearly, desperately needs that he is uniquely qualified to offer her: closure. Only by getting closure can she make room in her heart for the other thing she needs: forgiveness. She can’t forgive Yon Rha (nor should she imho) but confronting him allows her to leave the dark tunnel that was on the verge of consuming her. And who does she have to thank for that? Zuko. So she forgives him, because he went out of his way to help right the greatest wrong ever done to her, and he did it with care and respect. In forgiving him, Katara is able to come back to herself.

In my opinion, whether you ship Katara and Zuko romantically or not, the arc of their relationship is the heart of the show in many ways. By forging a relationship with Katara, whose home he attacked in the very first episode, Zuko learns to listen to those who he and his family have wronged and tend to their needs to truly make reparations. In turn, by letting Zuko help her, Katara receives concrete proof that a brighter future is possible, and part of that means being open to people from the Fire Nation changing. The fact that Katara and Zuko spend almost all of their remaining screen time in the series together, supporting each other emotionally and risking their lives for each other, emphasizes the importance of their relationship as individual characters who have grown in parallel and as microcosms of the wounded world of ATLA and the path it must take to heal.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk 🌊🔥

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I saw a anti Kataang post that says this:

“Kataang shipper: Katara ending up with Aang is more romantic and more revolutionary because Aang and Katara are both victims of the Fire Nation and are both sole survivors of genocide.

Also Kataang shippers: Katara and Zuko can never have a healthy relationship because having the shared trauma of losing their mothers makes any romantic relationship they might have toxic!

Please, I beg you, please, please look up the actual definition of trauma bonding before throwing it around so casually.”

Then the tags says “#why is sokka always forgotten when we talk about being a victim of the Fire Nation? #I don't think that word means what you think it means #empathy is the word you're looking for”

What do you think of this?

I actually don't care for the whole "they're both survivers of a genocide" when it comes to symbolism for Kataang, because although it is there, it is not that interesting to me as the PERSONAL role that plays for them.

Aang is the reason Katara ever left home and became a master waterbender, and that positive change in her allowed her to be his teacher, which allowed him to grow stronger and defeat Ozai, thus bringing justice to both of their nations - and not only they did give each other the tools to fight, they were there for each other emotionally during hard times, something Zuko couldn't do because he was actively playing an antagonist role to them in said hard times.

Zutarians calling that "trauma bonding" is not only absurd, it's a blatant attempt of both downplaying how key of a POSITIVE figure Aang was in Katara's life, while Zuko was nothing but negative for 90% of it, literally being a threat to her well-being and to her loved ones.

Also, VERY bold move of them to try to use "Sokka is traumatized too" and "trauma bonding" as some kind of "gotcha" against Kataang fans since Zutarians constantly go on and on about how "they both lost their moms!" (like nobody else in the show lost a parent, like Sokka didn't lose the same mom as Katara) and how it's "two nations coming together" (like there aren't TONS of both fanon and canon ships to which that applies to, including Kataang).

Once again, it's just zutarians being mad that Katara's bond with Aang is super meaningful to the narrative as a whole and to her individual arc, regardless of the romance side of it. Pure jealousy.

They WISH Zuko and Katara had that multiple-season dynamic of mutually saving each other in every way, that's why the hyperfixate on the events of the finale and straight up LIE about Katara having anything to do with Zuko's motivation to redeem himself or having been Prince Karl Zuko Marx that made her realize she didn't have to do all the chores at camp (which she canonically never fucking had to endure)